Congressional Lawmakers Work to Crack Down on Xylazine Drug Trafficking

(MENAFN) A bipartisan group of Congressional lawmakers introduced a bill on Tuesday to further restrict the use of xylazine, a veterinary sedative also known as tranq, in an effort to crack down on its spread. The drug is increasingly being cut into other drugs, and the Drug Enforcement Administration found xylazine in nearly a quarter of the fentanyl powder it seized in 2022.

The Combating Illicit Xylazine Act would classify xylazine as a Schedule III drug, on par with ketamine and anabolic steroids, and declare it as an emerging drug threat. The bill would also enable the DEA to track the drug's manufacturing to cut down on its use in cutting illegal drugs.

The lawmakers who introduced the bill, including Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, aim to empower law enforcement to crack down on xylazine's spread in communities. The legislation seeks to protect the drug's important use as a veterinary tranquilizer while ensuring that the DEA and local law enforcement have the tools they need to remove it from the streets.

Although xylazine is a sedative and muscle relaxer used on large animals like horses, it is not approved for use in humans. According to Dr. Sherri Kacinko, a forensic toxicologist at NMS Labs in Pennsylvania who studies xylazine and other substances, the drug can cause severe, necrotic skin ulcerations in humans. The DEA also warns of other documented toxic effects, including blurred vision, disorientation, drowsiness, staggering, coma, bradycardia, respiratory depression, hypotension, miosis, and hyperglycemia.

Xylazine is a central nervous system depressant that has a sedative effect and depresses breathing, according to Alixe Dittmore, a training and content development coordinator with the National Harm Reduction Coalition. Although it is not an opiate, it can cause an overdose when combined with an opiate by stopping someone's breathing. The Combating Illicit Xylazine Act seeks to address the dangers of this drug by regulating its use and distribution.

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